Carlton vs regular cat

That's my cat, the long one. Even when he was a month old, the vet told me he was going to be a big cat. He had large paws for his size. I had never heard of cats having large paws like that. Well, the predictions came true. He is not from one of the usually large cat families either. He is the garden variety born on a ranch in CA and sent to the feed store for adoption kind.
He has been a lifesaver for me. He makes me get outside of myself. He comes up to me and pats my arm when I have been too long on this computer. Play with me, feed me, let me out into the halls, brush me, let me sit on your lap. Granted, when he sits on my lap, my legs go numb after a short period, so sometimes we compromise and he sits next to me on a footstool.
His name is Carlton and it fits him to a T. He is a gentleman. Calm, loving and vocal.He will not be ignored. In the morning, he lets me know when I have had enough sleep by walking all over me, licking my hair, tapping my face, or, when none of those work, walking across my head. For that , he gets pushed off the bed several times before I wake enough to get up and feed him.
He is always hungry.
I have him on a diet because we need to fly on a plane together and the weight limit for a cat and a carrier is 20 pounds. It's close, I tell ya. I am trying to put a little more leeway between the 20 pounds and the package of cat and carrier. Mind you, it is a soft sided carrier.
Well, Carlton and I are trying very hard to diet, but you know how that goes...